If your house was on fire, what would you grab?
This is precisely the question that Foster Huntington asked himself, first photographing the belongings that he would take, and then asking a few friends to do the same. His experiment soon turned into a blog called The Burning House, and later became a book after he traveled around the country collecting submissions from as many diverse sources as possible.
“Today, developed countries are consuming more than ever before. This culture of consumption is often fueled by people’s desire to define themselves by the
possessions they amass. The Burning House: What Would You Take? takes a different approach to personal
definition. By removing easily replaceable objects and instead focusing on things unique to them, people are able to capture their personalities in a photograph.”
– From the introduction to the book
Name: Miguel
Age: 36
Location: Porto
Occupation: Bike shop owner
List:
The picture you gave me and the leather box we found together.
Mom and dads old camera and mom and dads old leather bag.
The shoes I can’t live without.
Your smell #1 and your smell #2.
The notebook where I draw while you laugh.
My iPod to listen to beautiful tunes while thinking in our next home.
Name: Brody
Age: 6
Location: New Hampshire
Occupation: A kid
List:
Wedgehead
Garfeild cup
Lego helicopter
Bumblebee Transformer
Chip
yellow belt
piggybank
wallet
weaving
(not pictured) Lego Camera used to take photo
Name: Kate Molins
Age: 26
Location: London, UK
Occupation: Clapper / Loader
List:
Buster Kitten – 2 yr old cat
My mum’s ashes
Photo album / scrap book
iPhone
Grandmother’s watch
Dad’s watch
My watch – 16th birthday present from my mum
Macbook
Passport
8mm Camera – 24th birthday present from all my friends
Dad’s “I Love Tits” Mug – in small print, “from the British Ornithological Society”
Limited edition GONZO, Hunter S. Thompson photo book – 21st birthday present from my mum
Lemmy, Buster Kitten’s brother
My uncle’s old Leica CL
Diary & notebook of VALUABLE ideas & info from the past year
Portable hard drive with millions of photos and other important things
Name: Joshua Lee Bacon
Age: 20
Location: Boone, Iowa
Occupation: Student
List:
Favorite pants.
Favorite underwear.
iPhone.
Box full of all my prints and negatives.
Buffalo box full of treasures and special snapshots.
Passport.
Chinese cigars.
Some cash.
Photo of my grandparents.
Photo of a friend.
Field notes and pens.
Vivitar and telephoto lens.
I would want to take more records, but the first one I would grab would be this Envy Corps 7 inch.
Some old letters.
Wallet.
Name: Brenda Bell
Age: 60
Location: Pinetop, Arizona White Mountains (wild fire country May/June)
Occupation: Homemaker
List:
My dog, Baby Val and treats for him
My husband Larry and treats for him
Peanut butter and crackers, peanuts, candy and gum
Bumblebee Transformer
A spork (spoon/fork)
Hand warmers
Wool hat
Lots of money (small dimensions) and change
Emergency first aid kit and zip lock bags
Matches
Name: Kristi Dahlstrom
Age: 27
Location: Germany
Occupation: Literature Teacher
List:
Great Aunt’s Violin (& Bow)
US Passport
Photograph of Siblings
2 Letters
Journal
New American Standard Bible
Rilke’s Book of Hours
T.S. Elliot Collected Poems
MacBook Pro
Black Flipflops
Name: Luca
Age: 42
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Occupation: Pricing analyst
List:
My collected writings
My Field Notes still to be used
My current notebook
the Midori Travellers Notebook On Writing by Stephen King
From Hell by Alan Moore
Important photographs
The stove moka I had for the past 10 years (because nothing looks as bad after a proper coffee)
The belt my dad had when he was in the army
The beret I had when I was in the army
Fountain pen and pencil, with my favourite brown ink
My grandad’s petrol lighter
Opinel knife Bookbinding tools
Reading glasses and sunglasses
iPhone 4S (used to take the picture)
Name: Alejandro Sosa
Age: 36
Location: Venezuela
Occupation: Technology consultant
List:
Everything is recoverable, except my daughter
weaving
(not pictured) Lego Camera used to take photo
